Patriots will use tiered season-ticket pricing for 2014 home games

It will cost less to watch the Patriots play a preseason game at Gillette Stadium in 2014 if you’re a season ticket-holder, but it will cost more for four of the eight regular-season games.

Borrowing a ticketing approach that has been used in almost every other professional sports league and by many colleges, the Patriots announced Friday that they will utilize a variable pricing plan for season-ticket packages next season, while also announcing a price increase in two lower-bowl seat designations.

In essence, the plan creates three ticket prices for the same seat: a price for the two preseason games, a higher price for four “premier” regular-season games, and an even higher price for four “marquee” regular-season games. Next season’s home game against the Broncos — a rematch of this season’s AFC Championship game — will be one of the marquee games; the other three haven’t been announced yet.